Of time and growth
by Shirayuki Yukiko
Summary: In which Red and Blue are finally reunited. Rated M for safety, not a lemon. Specialshipping with implied Oldrival.


The small Pokémon next to Red sparked with electricity, surprised by the sudden sound of the doorbell. It was a regular Friday night in Pallet town and the sun was setting red and pink and purple over the horizon. The green fields reflected almost orange in the sunset and the picturesque houses filled with families laughing around the dinner table. The little Pikachu in the living room sat up quickly with a jerk, seeming a little annoyed at having been startled. Red put a comforting hand on his partner's head while using the other hand to turn off Proteam Omega on the TV. Rising to go answer the door, he dragged his feet slightly, tired from the last few weeks of extensive training on Mount Silver. On the other side of the twisted doorknob was a girl with rich auburn hair and grand sea blue eyes. Her red lips curled in a mischievous half smirk- half smile as she peered up at him with amused, mascara fringed eyes. Red felt his own lips move into a large grin in happiness.

"A yellow bird whispered to me that you were home on a marital visit." Blue almost did not have time to finish the sentence before bursting into laughter at being swung up into the air and twirled around by her taller friend. She only had a moment to see his red eyes light in the joy of seeing an old friend as she was pulled into a tight hug.

"_Blue." _Red said with amusement and disbelief against her brown hair. It had been more than a year since he had seen her. The older the Pokédex Holders grew, the less time they seemed to remember to put into writing or sometimes even calling to check in on each other. Blue had only briefly left her parents side in the green house down in the Sevii Islands to come to Hoenn with him two years ago and as soon as the threat was over, she had sent him a letter from Johto letting him know that she was beginning a new journey. If she had been home to Pallet Town to visit, he would probably have missed her. He had begun his seasonal training with Gold atop of the snowy mountains that lacked cellphone reception most of the time.

They stood in the embrace for a moment until Blue unabashedly pushed past Red and let herself in. A la classic Blue. The yellow rodent on the couch ran up to her, climbing up her arm to nuzzle himself against her cheek in affection. Red followed Blue into the kitchen as she took a glass out of the familiar shelves and filled it with water. Who knew how far she had travelled this time. Red smiled to himself, some things never change. Though different in every way, the young twenty-two year old woman standing in his kitchen was still the brave ten year old who had swindled her way through all of Kanto searching for a stop to a vicious boogie-monster.

"Where is Yellow?" Blue furrowed her carefully plucked brows and glanced around the empty kitchen. "I figured you two would be plastered to each other's side."

Red made a slightly bitter face at the comment; Blue always knew how to hit the nail.

"She's away on a fishing trip with her uncle; apparently it's an annual thing." Red shrugged. "Couldn't ask her to give it up even though I'll admit I was a bit disappointed when I showed up to surprise my girlfriend and there was no one to surprise... She left some of her famous buns in the freezer if you want some though, it'll only take me a moment." Blue pursed her lips at the thought.

"That's okay. I actually had something else in mind." With excited hands, the young girl ravaged through her beige bag and protruded a large bottle of tequila that she slammed onto the kitchen table with a proud gesture. Red's eyes trailed from Blue's excited grin and the redness of her lips, up to the darkly painted eyes under her carefully locked hair. She was out of her old trainer clothes and in a tight-looking black shirt with a similar looking design around the breasts. The blue details brought out her eyes and made the chest look bigger. The blue miniskirt sat matching around her rich curves.

"Aha." Red whistled with realization, trying to will his facial muscles into not betraying how much he would have liked a night out. "How much damage are we thinking? Cause it'd be nice to be able to look Yellow in the eyes when she comes home on Sunday."

Blue only waved her hand dismissively at Red and Yellow's domestic lifestyle and turned to pull out two shot glasses from the cabinet. Her friend sat down at the table with amusement in his features and she ruffled his raven hair playfully between her slender fingers before sitting down opposite him.

"I don't remember the last time I promised you anything to be honest," Blue stated with a smirk as she poured the clear liquid in Red's glass and then her own. "but I don't imagine I've made any lately that I wasn't intending to keep, Red."

Red raised his glass with fearful eyes. "So no promises?"

"No."

Thirty minutes later the two old friends were a suspicious shade of pink and giggling loudly like teenagers. Feeling courageous, the young woman had taken Yellow's reading glasses off the couple's bed side table during a trip to the bathroom and returned in Red's lab coat from when he used to help out next door. She stood now proudly on the table, wiggling slightly on her stilettos. Red, who was also under the influence, walked backwards in fear and watched as his friend's feet shook a good meter up from the floor on the table. He filled up Blue's old water glass and stretched it out to his friend who froze in the middle of her master impression performance.

"_**RED!" **_She hissed loudly and leaned in, looking down on him through the round glasses. "_Red, Red, Red, Red, Red…" _She shook her head and pointed at him chastising. "Reeeeeeeeeeeeeed…" She repeated, her face somber. "There is a time and place for everything… but not now." The two friends blinked at each other for a second before breaking down with laughter. Red put the glass down on the floor and held his hurting tummy as he rolled over with laughter. Blue hopped down on the floor and stood towering over him. She continued to mimic Professor Oak's stern face.

"RED! YOU MUST RETURN YOUR POKÈDEX **NOW**!" She yelled. Red peered up at her, fake hurt eminent in his features.

"But Professor Oak please! I promise I will be a better Dexholder, please don't take my Pokédex!" He rose to his knees and clasped his hands in a begging stance in front of Blue. Blue faked surprise.

"What do you mean, my boy? I yell because I'm excited to update it of course!" Red laughed wholeheartedly at the sixteen-year-old himself's trauma. It seemed like such a long time ago, as if the six years since had taken up a decade of journeys and friends coming and going. Mostly just holding Yellow in his arms early mornings, his girlfriend unwilling to wake up and jokingly glaring up at him with her amber eyes. Her petite hands would always find his face and begin to push him away in order to sleep in.

"Oh I understand Professor. Please update it! But if I may just ask one thing…" Blue gazed down at him with curious eyes.

"Go on, my dear boy." She said, faking Oak's very deep and rusty voice an octave too high.

"Please don't update Yellow's Pokédex. The Pewter museum said they would take it soon. Because it counts as a relic, you see." Blue's cheeks inflated at Red's bad joke until the air bubble she had stored burst into laughter. They lay for several moments on the floor gasping for air. Pikachu took the cue to slip away from the counter into Red and Yellow's bedroom. Arceus could not blame him. Blue widened her big eyes at Red from across the floor.

"Red. It's time for a trip down memory lane."

Memory lane turned out to start with Red flinging himself up on Aero's back and holding on for dear life as the large Aerodactyl swooped into the air, aware of Red's slight strangeness but oblivious to the cause. Blue laughed next to him and flowed through the air on Ririri's back. After all the years of ornitophobia, Red assumed she had caught and trained a new Jigglypuff after Jiggly had evolved simply because she was so used to riding on one. Through with her fears and able to stand around birds now, Red had still never seen Blue catch or truly befriend a bird Pokémon after the battle of Ilex Forrest had ended. Perhaps she was still a little uncomfortable being so close to the creatures. Perhaps it was just that old habits died hard. Either way, the trip seemed to end with Blue and Red shushing each other in the nightclub line to the renovated old game corner in Celadon. When they finally did reach the end of the line, Red noticed Blue's shoulders tense. He followed her gaze to the nightclub guards, who were wearing creepy Halloween masks reminiscent of the Masked Man. He squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. She forced a smile at him and shrugged. The world was filled with birds and masks and the letter R painted in red.

The bouncer took a long look at both Blue and Red, slowly from top to toe. Weighing between denying the obviously drunk youngsters and accepting the heroes of Kanto. In the end, he must have decided that they were harmless despite their famous reputation of being powerful. Red and Blue left their Pokémon with the caretaker in the closet area and proceeded further into the nightclub. Red, who was usually a bit more reluctant to dance, followed Blue into the middle of the crowd. It was good to see Blue again. It was even more fun to dance to poor but funny dance music lyrics with Blue, her red lips and his pink miming the words along at each other. The young man surprised her by running his fingers through his raven hair and pouting his lips like a douche-bag. She laughed in response and interlaced her fingertips to make a corny wave movement with her arms. Apart from Red having to interrupt the occasional douchebag that seemed to think inappropriate touching of one of Kanto's most powerful women was a good idea, they were having a blast. That was, until Red froze as if he had seen a ghost. Blue leaned into his ear questioning.

"_Lance." _Red stage whispered over the loud music back to her, as if disbelieving his own words. Following his eyes, Blue turned to see the villain they had saved the world from almost ten years ago. She could not believe her eyes either.

"Shouldn't that asshole be in jail?" She sputtered, cheeks growing redder with tequila and agitation. It was not long until she realized that no one was listening, though. Her friend Red, ever the hero and even more so on tequila, was already stalking the room with fast legs towards his girlfriend's former tormentor. Blue swore loudly to herself. Lance's eyes widened in shock at being approached by familiar but clearly ill-intended faces. Red stopped in front of Lance and puffed out his chest as if he was a boxing hero from an old movie. Blue just looked plain surprised and unable to let go of her former thought.

"Shouldn't you be in jail?" She asked bluntly, seeming more intrigued than angry. Her taller friend loomed like an angry bodyguard beside her however and Lance seemed to sink closer towards the wall behind him. Lance had once been the frightening champion of the Elite Four and was still a very powerful man. If Red had not been both drunk and blazing with rage over how harshly Lance had battled the love of his life when she was only ten, he may have approached a bit more carefully. Lance's sharp cheekbones had become even more defined with age. The former champion turned villain must have been in his late twenties or early thirties. A lot of time had already passed since the battle atop Indigo Plateau. Red was staring daggers into Lance and rubbing the spot where Lorelei had frozen his wrists as if in remembrance. The older man managed to pry his eyes away from the red ones blazing holes into him and turn towards Blue.

"I got out a while ago. I met your brother, I thought maybe he would tell you about…" Red had his fist in Lance's shirt. Perhaps Blue should have counted on being intercepted by an old, familiar but unpleasant face before she made the hero drink all of that tequila. The bouncer from the entrance appeared as if from out of nowhere. He had probably kept tabs on both Lance and Blue and Red from the moment they had stepped into his club, hoping for a chance to get the powerful people out before they started trouble. Blue batted her eyelashes at him and started to say something persuading, no doubt, but it was too late. It was only a blink of an eye until they had their bottoms on the curb, the party princess of the group making a sour face to herself. Red and Blue's eyes met and Red started to laugh miraculously at the new experience of being thrown out of anywhere. He had always been such a standup guy. The kind that threw bad guys out.

"Listen Lance." Red walked over to the orange haired older man. Lance had a scruffy beard nowadays that made Blue giggle to herself. Red wobbled a little before continuing. "I love Yellow. I don't want to hurt you. But if you ever hurt her again. Then…" Red paused, looking over at drunk Blue who looked up at him from the curb, her mouth gaping open at drunk Red. He waited. She nodded at him to go on. "Then I will hurt you back." Red stuck his chin up into the air and peered up at Lance, who was taller but still gulped before he nodded slightly. The next thing they knew the man had disappeared into the misty night.

"That was pretty cool how you defended Yell." Blue said after a while. The duo sat as if lost on the sidewalk, a bit too drunk to walk away.

"Fucking Lance…" Red muttered. He stared out at the curb in Celadon city for a few seconds before bursting. "Fucking Lance! Fucking… Fucking Lance?" He giggled. Blue gave him an incredulous look before proclaiming and laughing even harder.

"Yes Red. Fucking Lance." The tired brunette lost her words after another laughing fit and leaned over at her heroic friends shoulder.

"There's probably never a good time to tell you this, but I lost my keys." Red remained unmoving except for a deep and confused furrow in his eyebrows. Blue startled.

"You lost the keys?"

"I lost my keys. And also fuck Lance." Blue growled loudly and sank her carefully make-uped face into her hands, scratching at her temples in frustration.

"It's okay, Blue," Red patted his friends shoulder and smiled his hero smile down at her. "I have an idea."

"_This was your grand idea?_" Blue giggled to herself, keeping a hand clasped over her own mouth to keep quiet while Red ringed on Green's door for the fifth time. Red nodded enthusiastically as he pressed the doorbell a sixth, then seventh, eighth, ninth and finally a tenth time before Green _threw_ the door open.

"_WHAT?" _The brown haired young man whispered as loudly and angrily as he could, his voice dripping with annoyance conveyed with only one word. His forest green eyes glared as he looked Red over. His best friend had a large wet stain on the front of his white t-shirt and his red eyes were wide open, regarding Green with glee. Pikachu, who Red had insisted on going to get in the middle of the night, had jumped out the window to his master fifteen minutes earlier and was now regarding Green with a sober look he imagined he was mirroring quite perfectly. Red's cap was on backwards and a tuff of raven black hair was hanging out the front in a very frizzled and undone manner. A little round top of auburn hair was sticking out behind Red's shoulder.

"He seems really mad and scary Red, heeeeelp!" A female voice came from behind Red and when Green inclined his head to view Blue properly, she stuck a white bag of take out in front of her face. It did not fool the brown haired boy very well, however. He sighed.

"Blue. What did you do?" At the mention of their festive state, Red cracked a grin and put a hand on Green's shoulder. The smell of hard liquor made his nostrils tighten in a grimace.

"Salsa tequila Corazon, Green!" Red proclaimed as Pikachu squirmed under the loud noise and moving arm. Blue peered up at Green through long lashes, she fingertips digging into Red's other shoulder as if she imagined she was also a small, cute rodent.

"Salsa tequila Corazon, Greenie." She smirked innocently. Green sighed again but said nothing as he went inside the house and gestured for his more immature friends to follow. Red dumped himself unceremoniously on the couch and the now slightly less fabulous woman made a beeline for the bathroom. Green began to unpack the white bag of take out and fished out a little box of fried noodles. His sleep had been disturbed anyway. His friend had curled a hand under one of Green's couch pillows, already determined to drift off within a short amount of time. There was a subtle but unmistakable sound of retching coming from the bathroom but the owner of the house only glanced at the door with moderate sympathy- he would probably have to clean that up later.

"We saw Lance." Red said, as if trying to convince himself. Green choked on his fried noodle. "I told him… I told him; I. LOVE. YELLOW." His friend continued emphasizing every word. Red's best friend chuckled, both surprised and delighted. Within a few minutes, Green had left a glass of water on the living room table for Red to find when he woke up and scavenged out an old large t-shirt for Blue to sleep in. When the blue-eyed girl stepped out of the bathroom, Red was already snoring loudly and she found Green in the bedroom with a glass of water that she gratefully accepted. He looked her over slowly as if contemplating something, and then handed her a wet-wipe to clean of the makeup with. Blue tried not to feel slandered. It had always been strange to interact with Green. Now she had not seen him for at least two years. He raised the covers and laid down and she turned off the lights. Nervously, she wiggled into the sleeping shirt and then underneath the covers. His eyes stood out like emeralds the more her eyes adjusted to the dark.

"Sorry for ruining your sleep." She said, although she did not remember having ever apologized to Green before. "You look older." Blue's voice uttered in spite of herself. It had been a longer time then it had felt like, being away and out in the world.

"I am older." Green replied, matter of factly. A la typical Green. His brows furrowed. "Blue. You okay?" His eyes were piercing. Her breath caught. Of course Green would be more considerate now. She had just never been vulnerable enough to see the quality in the first place. She did not need to see it. She did not need to be vulnerable. They had all been friends for a long time. Red, heroic and brave. Yellow, empathetic and lively. Herself, inventive and adventurous. Green of course, smart and calm. Green, who ran on logic and practice as opposite to her, run on emotion and quick-thinking.

_Pesky girl. _She had always avoided viewing Green the way she really wanted to view Green. From the moment she had first seen him, to being saved by him when she had fallen of the legendary bird Moltres, to Green comforting Silver over the drama with Giovanni. Through all of it, she had known. Days when he had been plain cold and calculating and called her pesky, and days when he had smiled and the sun had lit his pretty face. She had known that they were too different. If I ever touch him, she had thought to herself, we would begin to try to change one another. And she was the loud one. The opinionated one, who would begin to wear him down. She would be the best at doing the worst. Blue's eyes met Green's and drifted down to his mouth. He was older. He seemed kinder now. More understanding. She was older. She felt calmer now. More accepting.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled. He smiled back and rolled over. Two goodnights were whispered back and forth. Blue looked at Green's back. Only a few centimeters and she could hold him. Instead she rolled around, her back to him.

_There's a time and place for everything, Green Oak. But not now. _


End file.
